Making Cheeseby Amy Gale [1993] |
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Cheese is especially difficult to make because of the difficulty of finding what is called a starter — the bacteria culture added to the milk to start the curd formation. It is possible to make cheese without a starter, but the starter is what gives different cheeses their distinctive flavor, and without one the cheese almost always ends up tasting like pot cheese, more commonly known as farmer’s cheese or cottage cheese. To make cheese: Take a hell of a lot of milk (10 gallons [38 L] will make less than 1/2 a gallon of cheese) and cook it slowly on the stove. For flavorful cheese, it is best to use unpasteurized milk, which is almost impossible to buy and must be obtained from a cow, or goat’s milk, which tastes good even when pasteurized. As the curds form, add a cube or two of rennet, found at most specialty stores. This will cause the curds to coagulate. Constantly stirring the curds at this point will give you something more like mozzarella, which can be great. Instead, let the curds form naturally for something more like a jack cheese. Let the curds cook until you are satisfied with your yield, and then remove, placing them in cheese cloth and allowing them to drain. Then press into a mold.
Before you begin this adventure, remember that the reason there are 1000’s of varieties of cheese is because there are 1000’s of variations on the process outlined above. Whatever the case, good luck — you’ll need it. Amy Gale | ||
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